ONE of the Government's flagship city academies in Greater Manchester has yet to receive any of the money promised by their sponsors, it has been reported.

Salford City Academy, in Salford, has not seen any cash from its sponsor, the United Learning Trust, the Guardian reported.

The school is among four city academies that have had no money. Of the 27 academies which have opened since 2002, 23 have yet to receive all the private funds they are due, the paper says.

The Guardian's figures - drawn from a Parliamentary answer - are the latest blow for the Prime Minister's flagship policy for transforming education in England's inner cities.

NUT general secretary Steve Sinnott told the Guardian that the figures proved ministers were "handing over control of these schools for far less than they have led the public to believe".

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Academy sponsors, including church groups and wealthy business figures, pay é2 million towards the new school and in return receive a major say over how it is run.

Lib Dem education spokeswoman Sarah Teather said: "The Government has led everybody to believe that the é2 million will be handed over from the first day the doors open at each academy.

"After all, this is when the sponsor can exercise control over the curriculum, staffing and admissions."

The Department for Education and Skills stressed that the sponsors' payments were for capital costs and were never intended to be paid "up front".

"There is not - and has never been - any expectation that sponsorship should be made up front," a DfES spokesman said. He added that the sponsors normally pay their donations "over the lifetime of the building costs of the project".